Baldomero Lopez

Baldomero Lopez (23 August 1925-15 September 1950) was a First Lieutenant in the US Marine Corps during the Korean War. Lopez posthumously received the Medal of Honor for covering a hand grenade with his body, sacrificing himself.

Biography
Baldomero Lopez was born in Tampa, Florida on 23 August 1925 to a Spanish immigrant father from Asturias. He grew up in Ybor City, and he was a member of the basketball team and the JROTC at high school. On 8 July 1943, Lopez enlisted in the US Navy, and he graduated from the US Naval Academy on 6 June 1947, missing World War II. In 1948, he commanded a mortar section and a rifle platoon at Qingdao and Shanghai during the Chinese Civil War, and he volunteered for duty as an infantry officer when the Korean War broke out in 1950. On 16 June 1950, Lopez was promoted to First Lieutenant.

Battle of Inchon
On 15 September 1950, as commander of a platoon in A Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, US 1st Marine Division, Lopez took part in the Battle of Inchon. He was captured in an iconic photograph showing him leading his men over a seawall to attack the Korean People's Army forces on the beach, and he tried to throw a hand grenade into a North Korean bunker. He was shot and wounded, causing him to drop the live grenade, and Lopez decided to pull his body over the grenade to shield others from the blast; he was unable to throw it due to his right shoulder being wounded. Lopez was killed in the explosion, and he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. On 11 November 2007, a new Korean War memorial in Tampa was named in Lopez's honor, as are several nursing homes.